The Bizarre Consequences Of Business Competition

Via Hugh Macleod’s acknowledgment, reflecting back to us the insights offered by this Blaugh post (excerpt below).

As the virtual world continues to encroach on the solid 3D world, and as our individual and collective sociologies on and off line blur into each other, here’s a nifty little example of how stupid it can and might get.

A patent on the "process" of making and sustaining friendships (well, we can argue about whether it will be perceived to be a patent on the technology or on the "process" … see above point re: lines blurring). 

WTF ?

Millions of fans poured into the streets in celebration late last week, when the social networking megasite Friendster.com was awarded a patent on managing real-life relationships. Until now, relationships have been difficult to maintain - with no effective friendship tool firmly in place. With the Friendster patent, suddenly that task has become a lot less daunting.

No longer will the phone break-up suffice; people must now go through Friendster to start and stop any kind of relationship. Friendster executives, knowing what’s best for humankind, have vowed to sue the pants off of any friend who thinks they can manage friends without going through Friendster - this includes every aspect of any friendship, either online or in the living room.

On the same day, Friendster announced joint ventures with leading dictionary publishers to officially change the spelling of the word “friend” to “friendster” just to show how serious they are about running your friendships.

I will be interested to see if this will backfire on Friendster (or how it might), as so much of what HAS worked in this hyperlinked interconnected environment depends upon openness and the lack of walls and other barriers.

Tags: social networks, social networking, friends, friendship, friendster, idiotic demonstration of not understanding dynamics of social newtorking

Powered by Qumana